Tribute to Anil Mishra

Guddu Days: Story of a True Friend

True Friends Never part, They Stay in Hearts

Picture of Anil Mishra with Sandip Dholakia from the late 1980s

I still remember very clearly the day Anil and I met for the first time in the engineering school. Anil was very introverted and soft-spoken. Although most of us had nothing in common with Anil, he quickly became part of our Mumbai students group, an informal group of students from the greater Mumbai area. Anil and I were completely opposite, but somehow, we became very close friends in a short time. Later on, we even ended up sharing a room for one semester.

It is painstakingly difficult to write about someone who has been so close to you for more than 35 years and passes away so suddenly.

The Student Life

Not only we became roommates, but Anil also started treating me like his older brother. I was even granted the right to call him — Guddu, the nickname used by his immediate family only!

Anil used to talk significantly less and always started his sentences with, “I am thinking..” (में सोच रहा था…)

Anil spoke very pure Hindi. He often corrected my Hindi usage with a comment, “When Mumbai’s Gujjus speak Hindi, I can’t even figure out what language they are speaking — it is almost like a mixture of Gujarati…